Speakers

Maryam Ahranjani is the Ronald and Susan Friedman Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law (UNMSOL). An award-winning scholar and educator, she is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School (LLM), American University Washington College of Law (JD), and Northwestern University (BSEd). At UNMSOL, Professor Ahranjani teaches criminal law and procedure, constitutional rights, and education law and directs the UNMSOL chapter of the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, a program that trains and supervises law students teaching public high school students about their constitutional rights and responsibilities.

Sydney Cruz was born in Virginia, grew up in Albuquerque, and is a recent graduate of New Mexico State University as of May 2023. She obtained a master’s degree in social work and has served the community in different capacities such as child welfare, policy, and building community relations. For her social work practicum in her bachelor's degree, she worked with the Child, Youth, and Families Department in the Investigations Department. In her master's practicum, she worked with Las Cruces City Councilor Johana Bencomo as a community organizer. She currently works for the Black Education Act as their master level intern providing program support and assistance to those experiencing racism and discrimination with access to community resources.

Dr. Dèsa Karye Daniel is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Denver. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in New Mexico and Colorado. Daniel’s research interest focuses on supervision relationships for racial/ethnic minorities, the lived experiences of racial/ethnic college students, and the experiences of Black/African American Women in academic spaces. Dr. Daniel advocates for inclusive spaces for racial/ethnic minority students within academia and within organizations for increasing graduate student resources. She received her doctoral degree in counselor education at the University of New Mexico. Daniel holds dual master’s degrees in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Higher Education Administration from New Mexico State University. Dr. Daniel was named a 2021 New Mexico Office of African American Affairs Everyday Hero for her mental health work with Black communities. Daniel is the recipient of the 2020 NBCC Minority Fellowship.

Socorro G. Herrera is a keynote speaker, district consultant, and trainer of trainers, as well as a professor in the College of Education and director of the Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy (CIMA) at Kansas State University. Her K–12 teaching experience includes an emphasis on literacy development, and her research focuses on literacy opportunities with culturally and linguistically diverse students, reading strategies, and domestic and international teacher preparation for diversity in the classroom. Dr. Herrera has authored several books and numerous articles focusing on issues of instruction and assessment with culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Vickie Horne is a science teacher and Equity Council Chair at Explore Academy in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She serves on the Curriculum and Professional Development Subcommittee of the Black Education Act Advisory Council. Other positions she has held over the past twelve years include lead teacher, youth STEM teacher, school leadership team member, and peer mentor. Vickie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Master of Science degree in Reading from Alcorn State University. She has also earned an Educational Specialist degree in Leadership from Mississippi College. Her passion is developing skills that empower students to employ strategic reasoning skills and support social emotional development.

Eric House approaches the study of rhetoric and writing as a means to map out and understand cultural production and processes of identification. His current research examines how Black rhetoric remixes perceptions of writing and intervenes in the politics of representation. Specifically, he is interested in how the composing practices from figures in Black rhetorical tradition such as the hip-hop DJ might transform composition theory and pedagogy. His work places Black rhetoric and writing in conversation with scholarship in writing studies, rhetoric, literacy studies, linguistics, and cultural studies.

Leslie Kelly is the school health manager, coordinating behavioral health for the NM Public Education Department. She has been an educator, counselor, and behavioral health specialist in New Mexico for over 30 years. She is a strong supporter of whole-child education and social and emotional learning as the pathway toward equity, access, and success in education for all students and adults. She is a music lover, avid skier, motorcyclist, and tennis player as well as the mother of two grown children, one cat, and one dog.

Katie Kitchens is a white, queer, Jewish educator and researcher in New Mexico. Their nearly 15 years as a classroom teacher deeply informs their work and keeps them optimistic about the possibility for change. Katie's doctoral research focuses on white families who are striving to create antiracist familial cultures.

Natane Lim has been in the field of early childhood education for 22 years in various teaching roles and classroom settings. She has taught in the Chicagoland area as well as New Mexico. Natane has been involved in community social justice work for two decades, starting as a youth organizer for a nonprofit in Chicago. She is dedicated to dismantling racism to instill a better future for all children. As a Project Manager, Natane leads Embracing Equity’s New Mexico initiative to transform education across the state. Natane takes much pride in the work for New Mexico because it is her home, it is where her daughter attends school, and where she and her husband have the honor of teaching break dancing to young people in the community. 

Dr. Nancy López is a professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico. She directs and co-founded the Institute for the Study of "Race" and Social Justice (race.unm.edu), and she is the founding coordinator of the New Mexico Statewide Race, Gender, Class Data Policy Consortium. Dr. López's scholarship, teaching, and service are guided by the insights of intersectionality --the importance of examining race, gender, class, and ethnicity together--for interrogating inequalities across a variety of social outcomes, including education, health, employment, housing, and developing contextualized solutions that advance social justice. Her book, Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys: Race and Gender Disparity in Urban Education (2003), focuses on the race-gender experiences of Dominicans, West Indians, and Haitians to explain why girls are succeeding at higher rates than boys. Dr. López’s current research, funded by the WT Grant Foundation and Hewlett Foundation, includes a mixed-method study in three research-practice partnerships that examine the role of ethnic studies curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy in reducing complex intersectional inequalities in high school.

Monique Matute-Chavarria is an assistant professor of Special Education at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Before obtaining her Ph.D. in Special Education, she worked with Nevada Early Intervention Services working with children from birth to three with disabilities. Dr. Matute-Chavarria identifies as a Black mother scholar and Afro-Latina; therefore, her research focuses on Black students and families. Her research centers on the intersections of race, family, and disability. She also researches the use of hip-hop pedagogy practices (i.e., DJing) as a tool for writing with Black students with and without disabilities. Dr. Matute-Chavarria was awarded the must-read award in 2022 for her article “Giving Voice to Aspirations: Engaging African American Parents With Children With Disabilities” in the Journal of Intervention in School and Clinic.

Cleveland Robinson is an artist, entrepreneur, and therapist who has been working with families and diverse populations throughout the country to assist in strengthening bonds and improving communication. Cleveland has worked to become a lead advocate for mental wellness within African American and minority communities by bringing awareness to the importance of empathy and multicultural competencies for both clinical and non-clinical professionals to improve the quality of working and living environments. To date, Cleveland has been able to present at several state agencies including the State of New Mexico, the Martin Luther King Commission, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the University of Florida, Brewton Parker College, and many other venues around the country. 

Johnna Rocker-Clinton was selected as the Chair of the Black Education Act Advisory Council for New Mexico in October 2022. She is also currently an Assistant Principal at Alamogordo High School in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Ms. Rocker-Clinton has been in education for 15 years and has worked as a teacher assistant, para-professional, tutor, classroom teacher, and librarian. She considers herself a lifelong learner and views education, formal or informal, as means to liberation. She has earned a B.A. in English from the University of Maryland University College, an M.A. in Teaching Language Arts from the University of Central Missouri, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Administration at New Mexico State University. Ms. Rocker-Clinton is an Alabama native and mother of two adult children who are both graduates of Alamogordo High School. She is passionate about supporting and implementing equitable and culturally responsive educational practices for the benefit of all students.

Dr. Arsenio Romero, a native New Mexican and son of an educator, has spent the last quarter-century serving New Mexico communities as a school and district leader. Prior to his appointment as Public Education Department Secretary, Dr. Romero served as superintendent of Los Lunas Schools and superintendent and CEO of Deming Public Schools. Dr. Romero also oversaw district curriculum as assistant superintendent for instruction and transformation for the Roswell Independent School District. Since 2013, he has been a lead performance coach/executive coach for PED. He started his career in education as an elementary school teacher and principal for Las Cruces Public Schools. In addition, the secretary has taught at New Mexico State University since 2014 and joined the NMSU Board of Regents in 2020. Dr. Romero’s greatest source of pride is his family. He and his wife Amber, an educator, are the proud parents of four children.

Brandi Stone works as the Director at UNM African American Student Services and Special Advisor to the President on African American Affairs. Her passion is to assist Black students in their college navigation towards graduation, specifically through intersectional identity work. Brandi is from New Mexico and received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and her Master's in Public Administration from the University of New Mexico. She is currently working on her Ph.D. at New Mexico State in Educational Leadership. Additionally, Brandi serves as a national board member for the Association of Black Culture Centers. She is a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys at Lobo athletic games and out in the outdoors exploring New Mexico.

Simone Vann earned her bachelor’s degree in secondary mathematics education in 2013 from the University of New Mexico. She immediately started working at Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho, NM as an Algebra 2 teacher. At Cleveland, Simone designed an Algebra 2 modeling class for students who struggled with math, was a part of the NM Teacher Evaluation Taskforce tasked with revamping the teacher evaluation system, and participated in a group who designed a more equitable grading system for the Rio Rancho Public School District. In May 2020, Simone earned a master’s degree in Secondary education with an MSET focus and a minor in Educational Leadership at the University of New Mexico.  Simone joined NMPED in January 2022 as the Black Education Curriculum Coordinator where she was instrumental in setting up the curriculum requirements of the Black Education Act. She was promoted to Identity, Equity, and Transformation Division Director in May 2022 where she continues her desire to make education equitable and accessible to all students. Simone’s motto is that all kids are capable of being successful in education if educators ensure their teaching material is relevant and accessible to all students.

Alexander Warner-Garrett recently graduated in May from New Mexico State University with a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and Administration. He was born in Las Cruces and raised in Albuquerque and returned to Las Cruces in 2015 to attend NMSU. For his undergraduate studies, Alexander double-majored in journalism and government. Alexander has been extensively involved on campus over the last seven years, which includes ASNMSU, Residence Hall Association, National Residence Hall Honorary, Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity, and three student ambassadorships. For his graduate assistantship, he worked for the First-Year Initiatives, which involved teaching mid-semester courses to undergraduates and coordinating activities for the Men of Color Initiative. Alexander was recently accepted in the Ed.D. program for Educational Leadership and Administration at NMSU to start in Fall 2023.

Dr. William L. White Jr. hails from Fredericksburg, VA, and holds a Ph.D. in special education at the University of Washington where he most recently received the Gordon C. Lee Dissertation Award for his dissertation entitled “Through Our Eyes: The Lived Experiences of Black Male Early Childhood Teachers.”  William received his B.A. in political science/pre-law and his M.Ed. in special education from Virginia State University, an HBCU located in Petersburg, VA. William also holds an Education Specialist Degree in Early Childhood Special Education from The Graduate School of Education & Human Development at The George Washington University. Currently, William is the co-designer and Director of My Brother’s Teacher which works to increase the presence of Black and Brown males in early childhood education. He also continues to provide pro-bono special education consulting to families of students in the Washington, D.C., and the Seattle area.